International experience has confirmed the efficiency of PIM applications for the design, construction and operation in complex industries: NPPs, oil and gas plants, refineries, and others. Unfortunately, information modelling technologies and PIM are sometimes confused with 3D modelling applied during the design stage. These technologies are very useful, but the principal result of the deployment of a PIM is a positive economic effect on construction and, even more so, for operation of the plant. The PIM application during the life cycle can give an overall benefit exceeding 10% of a final cost of the NPP project.
For example, investments in PIM applications can be returned with dramatic reductions in piping and component collisions discovered during the design and engineering stage. The final correction cost of such collisions alone can exceed the total cost of the application of these technologies for construction or modernization.
An analysis of IAEA publications and international experience published in various industry sources supports the fact that a PIM provides significant value for operating NPPs. A summary of the analysis’ results is given in the Tables 1- 4.
TABLE 1. PIM VALUE DURING THE DESIGN PHASE OF THE NPP UNIT LIFE CYCLE
Improvement Means of improvement Value
range Faster production of design
documentation;
Improvement of the quality
Automated mechanisms for generating design documentation, including drawings and specifications based on information saturated 3D model.
5-10%
Reduction of time needed for reconstruction and upgrade of an NPP
Designer has access to the PIM reflecting the actual NPP integrated information;
15-30%
Lowering number of modifications in the detailed documentation.
TABLE 2. PIM VALUE DURING THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE OF THE NPP UNIT LIFE CYCLE
Improvement Means of improvement Value
range Increase of construction work
quality Construction workers have access to PIM
including 3D model; 5-10%
Precise planning of construction works with a PIM.
Reduction of rework and materials used
More precise planning of procurement based on PIM data;
5-10%
Decrease errors during on-site works with the help of visual display of information during pre-job briefing.
Reduction of equipment and
personnel downtime Detailed planning of construction works based on a PIM with business indicators of current resource load for equipment and personnel.
15-25%
Increase in productivity of workers
Access to detailed and up-to-date information about the constructed plant;
10-20%
Planning and forming detailed work packages based on PIM data.
Reduction of costs of handover and commissioning
Commissioning and handover based on the delivery of datasets in an accurate, well-organized, non-redundant format;
20-50%
Reusing and leveraging the engineering design basis by building solutions for managing project execution, systems completion and operations on top of this virtual plant asset, rather than in separate stand-alone systems, can further reduce costs and provide better quality information as a basis for these work processes.
TABLE 3. PIM VALUE DURING THE OPERATION PHASE OF THE NPP UNIT LIFE CYCLE
Improvement Means of improvement Value
range Reduction of equipment
failures The operating personnel have complete engineering information available, thus indirectly providing improved maintenance;
2-5%
Performing engineering evaluations with the use of actual operating engineering models enable to predict and prevent failures.
Reduction of downtime during
shutdown PIM-based detailed scheduling and
optimization of critical installation or
maintenance activities (e.g. for limited access or high radiation areas;
20-50%
Preparatory training a pre-job briefing of the personnel with the use of PIM (3D
engineering models);
Improved unplanned corrective maintenance through high quality engineering evaluations with the use of precise and comprehensive PIM.
Reduction of cost of complex maintenance and repair operations
Detect, anticipate and correct collisions and clashes (introduction of equipment, lack of space to perform activities and others) prior to work commencement;
15-20%
Optimize personnel work and mitigate risks in their activities;
Train next generation of operating personnel.
Reduction of maintenance personnel costs;
Decrease number of required maintenance workers due to optimized planning;
15-25%
Improvement Means of improvement Value range Reduction of training time Optimized training of operating and
maintenance personnel with the use of PIM prior to performance of complex operations.
50-80%
TABLE 4. GENERAL BENEFITS OF APPLICATION OF PIM THROUGHOUT NPP LIFE CYCLE
Improvement Means of improvement Value
range Change management Trace, document and publish history of
change for specific NPP SSC back to its origin;
Improved impact analysis of modifications based on reliable and up-to-date SSC information;
Ensure correct procurement, implementation, maintenance and inspection of SSC changes.
5-20%
Information search PIM supports immediate access to detailed and relevant information about specific NPP elements. Search by criteria can be performed on process diagrams, electrical schemes, on 3D model data, by parameter values, or in plant breakdown structure or in geographical breakdown structures.
10-40%
Reduction in training costs and time
Application of modern visualization tools such as intellectual 2D or 3D models
facilitates delivery of information to learners.
30-50%
Reduction of IT costs Integration of existing information systems via a common PIM;
Minimize the amount of duplication of information in existing information systems and databases.
10-20%
I.2. SOURCES OF IMPROVEMENT OF NPP OPERATION MANAGEMENT
The IAEA has developed a significant number of recommendations related to application of information technologies, in particular PIMs, for the NPP operation phase. These include publications for ageing management for NPPs (IAEA NS-G-2.12) [9], data collection and record keeping for management of NPP ageing (IAEA 50-P-3) [10], information technology impact on NPP documentation (IAEA-TECDOC-1284) [11] and others.
Creation of a PIM with detailed engineering information on the NPP (including as-designed, as-built, operation, diagnostic and test data, and maintenance modernization) and support during the NPP life cycle (supported by NPP personnel and data updates), is one of the key factors for the realization of efficient and cost-effective operation of the plant.
More than 40% of all operational failures are caused by deficiencies in management and the organization of NPP operation (see Table 5). The root causes of failures and their development are:
insufficient analysis and lack of measures to change P&ID drawings, design of equipment or components, and technical solutions for the implementation stage;
deficiencies in operational documentation which does not contain detailed or step-by-step instructions for execution of works, or poor quality of instructions with deficiencies in description of sequence of installation maintenance within the normal operation mode, as well as personnel actions during accidents or failures;
untimely changes in operational (repair) documentation while making changes in design of equipment and components;
untimely or premature replacement of components;
insufficient analysis, and changes in maintenance and repair instructions for NPP maintenance personnel;
insufficient analysis and plant programmes for monitoring of fault diagnosis and repair of malfunction equipment;
insufficient training of operational and maintenance personnel, resulting in requirements for job procedures and service instructions for equipment not being met;
poor quality control of fixed equipment condition when conducting planned maintenance, repair works or planned walk-downs and inspections;
insufficient measures for work safety and underestimation of hazards when working on operating equipment;
poor use of job-order system;
deficiencies of the organization in coordination of personnel and insufficient supervision;
ergonomics of technology and organization of the workplace not well understood.
NPP inefficiencies related to these causes lead to underproduction of power generation, and consequently to the financial losses arising from reduced delivery of electricity to consumers.
The PIM-based compensatory measures to resolve the above-mentioned issues are shown in Table 5.
TABLE 5. FAILURES RELATED TO NPP OPERATION MANAGEMENT ISSUES
25-30% Outdated or missing operational documentation can create many obstructions in cases when the
documentation is necessary. Establishment of a centralized repository constituted of up-to-date operating, engineering and process documentation supported by appropriate procedures to update the whole NPP PIM data could minimize occurrence of these problems by a factor of ten.
Failures of control procedure at NPP
5-10% PIM facilitates access to specific operating information (in many cases access to this information was otherwise impossible) both for regulating authorities (even if paper-based procedures remain the reference) and for equipment manufacturers. Comprehensive information about every equipment or current and planned actions is accessible at any time. The accessibility of information will significantly simplify and accelerate control
procedures and simultaneously will allow for increasing completeness and timeliness of actions on unit
performance control. This enables anticipated decisions based on real-time data.
10-30% Greater accessibility to information and ability to analyze complex situation through the PIM will allow NPP personnel to prepare better technical solutions, to carry them out in a timely manner, and promptly control results of actions taken. In addition, the PIM will report immediate information on current status to external experts and to manufacturers of equipment, or to the K-PIM knowledge base.
On-condition repair is considered to be the most effective method of NPP maintenance to reduce costs and is directly related to assessment of actual equipment life characteristics. The calculations are based on power unit configuration and topology data contained in the PIM.
Cause of failures
5-25% PIM is used for more comprehensive training of future MRO personnel to perform their tasks. Besides oral and formal instructions, personnel can explore MRO in a virtual space beforehand for pre-job briefings, make basic measurements, evaluate equipment state and features, and plan operation algorithms. PIM enables integration of comments from dedicated experts, to assess need for spare parts, and to calculate repair personnel dose rates more precisely. Using PIM mobile applications by personnel will allow them to have access to the data base, diagrams and 3D-model on site which should significantly improve the performance.
All these measures directly contribute to shortening equipment downtime at repair and maintenance
operations and, if applied properly, should significantly increase total NPP production.
Insufficient personnel training level
15-45% Application of a PIM makes it possible to study issues related to specific NPP equipment visually and in detail.
A PIM can be used for preparing a new or enhancing existing personnel training courses that will improve the quality of personnel training and will also be useful to create operational manuals when solving regular tasks of current operation.
I.3. RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Through facilitating quick access to documents, data and available parameters of NPP equipment for stakeholders involved in NPP services, the application of a PIM (including 3D engineering models, control instruments for repair, retrofitting and margin management of the NPP), when used properly, will make it possible to:
shorten the time needed for decision-making;
avoid conflicts in organizational procedures;
gather all possible data beforehand for studying complex situations;
ensure the personnel is sufficiently trained for the job.
All this creates a synergistic effect from other aspects of PIM implementation and helps to increase safety, adequacy, and timeliness of actions taken for operation, repair, and retrofitting of NPP equipment, without loss of time. It also helps in making the best decision on the basis of significantly more complete information. This will decrease operating and maintenance cost.
This section provides a justification for investment in PIM implementation based on the following reference data:
454 commercial reactors are in operation in the World in 2018 for a total net electrical power of 400285 MWe and a total production of 2488 TWh in 2017;
in 2017, estimated unplanned outages caused a loss in production of 163595 GWh (this estimation was calculated from the actual production, load factor and unplanned capability factor);
in 2017 an average capability factor for a 1000MWe PWR was 78%.
The following hypothesis is formulated by levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for nuclear generation: 0.04 USD/kWh.
TABLE 6. ASSESSMENT OF THE YEARLY COST OF UNPLANNED OUTAGE FOR AN NPP IN OPERATION
Yearly production
(TWh)
Yearly loss in production due to unplanned outage
(TWh)
Yearly cost of unplanned outage (in millions of USD)
total (454 units) 2488 163.595 4907
average (per unit) 5.48 0.360 10.8
Hence the underproduction cost due to failures is $10.8M for one NPP unit. Section II.2 indicates that application of PIM may reduce number of relevant failures up to 40%. Taking into account the most optimistic forecast (reduction of the failures by 40%), the application of PIM could generate $4.3M of savings per year for each NPP regarding reduction of failures only.
REFERENCES [1] IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety (2011),
https://www-legacy.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC55/Documents/gc55-14.pdf.
[2] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Nuclear Power Reactors in the World, Reference Data Series No. 2, 2017 Edition, Vienna (2017).
[3] INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION, Industrial Automation Systems and Integration — Integration of Life-Cycle Data for Process Plants Including Oil and Gas Production Facilities — Part 2: Data model, ISO 15926-2:2003, ISO, Geneva (2003).
[4] Wikipedia, Facility information model,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facility_information_model.
[5] INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION, Preview Industrial Automation Systems and Integration — Integration of Life-Cycle Data for Process Plants Including Oil and Gas Production Facilities, ISO 15926-2:2003, ISO, Geneva (2013).
[6] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Knowledge Loss Risk Management in Nuclear Organizations, Nuclear Energy Series No. NG-T-6-1, IAEA, Vienna (2017).
[7] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Leadership and Management for Safety, IAEA Safety Standards No. SGR part 2, IAEA, Vienna (2016).
[8] WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM, Resource Description Framework Schema 1.1, 2014. Available at: www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/.
[9] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Ageing Management for Nuclear Power Plants, IAEA Safety Standards No. NS-G-2.12, IAEA, Vienna (2009).
[10] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Data Collection and Record Keeping for the Management of Nuclear Power Plants Ageing, Safety Series No.
50-P-3, IAEA, Vienna (1991).
[11] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Information Technology Impact on Nuclear Power Plant Documentation, IAEA-TECDOC-1284, IAEA, Vienna (2002).
LESSONS LEARNED FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT OF AN NPP K-PIM
I-1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this Annex is to raise awareness in the nuclear industry on what other industries have done to support the implementation of PIM and K-PIM principles for their plants/facilities.
Over the past few decades, automotive and aerospace industries have made fundamental changes in their practices and processes that have increased the productivity of these sectors, improved cooperation between stakeholders, and reduce costs. This transformation has been possible through technological improvements combined with development of standards for exchange of information. These standards have enabled a high level of integration and knowledge sharing among the supply chain stakeholders.
There are no comparable standards available for NPPs. Lessons learned from these and other industries highlight the challenges to establish a common framework for support information and knowledge exchange and capture, as well as to agree on sets of reference data. Among these challenges are engagement of subject matter experts and sponsorship of the leading companies in the supply chain.
Whereas the automotive and aerospace industries differ from nuclear in terms of scale, disciplines involved or production series, oil & gas, building or process industries have also engaged a similar digital transformation of their practices and have defined standards. These standards propose exchange schema, technical frameworks and high-level reference data such as taxonomies or ontologies. In addition, other actors such as industrial consortiums enrich this ecosystem by providing additional sources of reference data.
The purpose of this appendix is to list and assess the maturity of this ecosystem in order to raise awareness of the nuclear industry on what can be re-used to support the implementation of PIM and K-PIM principles.
Section I.2 contains:
a short introduction to relevant standards and a study of the business drivers that lead to their development;
a study of technical frameworks available, and their potential application to the nuclear industry;
an analysis of reference data available that covers:
their applicability for the nuclear industry;
their compliance with K-PIM principles related to life cycle management and knowledge management;
Then, section I.3 provides and explains an interaction map between ISO committees, standards and related consortiums.
I-2. ANALYSIS OF OIL&GAS AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY STANDARDS RELATED TO PIM AND K-PIM PRINCIPLES
I-2.1. Oil and gas standards – ISO 15926
The purpose of ISO 15926 is to facilitate integration of data to support the life cycle activities and processes of process plants. ISO 15926 is based on a generic, conceptual data model for computer representation of technical information about process plants described in ISO
15926-2:2003 [1]. This conceptual data model defines high-level information classes and is the foundation for information exchange. The data model is designed to be used in conjunction with reference data. ISO 15926 proposes technological solutions for management, capture, publication or exchange of technical information based on semantic standards. In addition, other parts of ISO 15926 propose sets of generic reference data that can take the form of taxonomies or ontologies.
Currently, ISO 15926 is used to facilitate information exchange between the stakeholders of a new built process plant project, and especially to streamline the handover of information from the designer to the operator. More recently, this framework has been deployed on brownfield projects to support the refurbishment of plants.
The development of collaboration and harmonization practices in the oil and gas industry has been encouraged by several factors:
Implementation of additional regulatory standards since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010;
Shift in the business organization through the definition of Architect Engineer (AE) entities responsible for the integration and the delivery of turnkey projects;
Increased maturity with regards to intellectual property in collaborative environments.
I-2.2. Building information modelling
Similarly, in the construction industry, the BIM initiative aims at improving the construction process and cooperation between the stakeholders. BIM scope includes life cycle and multi-discipline modelling of objects related to construction of objects. The BIM approach is led by the buildingSMART International Consortium [2]. This Consortium has the role of initiator of standards as well facilitator and promoter of BIM practices in the construction industry.
BIM is an interconnected network based on standards including:
ISO 12006-3 [3], which specifies a language-independent taxonomy data model that can be used to store or provide information about construction works based on dictionaries;
ISO 16739 [4], which contains the industry foundation classes (IFC) schema, a file format that describes components of a building and that facilitates interoperability in the construction industry;
ISO 29481 [5], which defines a methodology to formalize an information delivery manual (IDM), which, for example, model the processes of information exchange including the interactions between stakeholders.
Some countries impose a level of BIM-compliance for the stakeholders involved in publicly funded projects. BIM principles are evolving fast in order to more efficiently support the construction of large infrastructure projects and buildings. On some projects, BIM data can be re-used during the operation and maintenance phases.
I-2.3. Supporting standards and concepts
I-2.3.1. W3C standards
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) [6] is an international community aimed at developing web standards to lead the web to its full potential. In the field of semantic technologies, the work of W3C can be summarized by the following diagram (Figure I-1).
FIG. I-1. Semantic web stack (Reproduced courtesy of [7]) Legend:
RDF: resource description framework RIF: rule interchange format
OWL: web ontology language
SPARQL: sparql protocol and RDF query language XML: extensible markup language
W3C has published the resource description framework (RDF) standard that formalize
“triples”. A triple is a linking structure that forms a directed, labelled graph, where the edges represent the named link between two resources represented by the graph nodes. Each element of the triple is uniquely identified through a unique reference identifier (URI). See Figure I-2 and Figure I-3.
FIG. I-2. Illustration of the RDF triple concept
FIG. I-2. Illustration of the RDF triple concept